Black and Latina scientists misidentified as janitors or admin

A survey of more than 500 professional female scientists has found that nearly half of black and Latina participants had been misidentified as being part of the janitorial or admin staff; other racial and gender-based biases were also noted.

Recruiting more women into the sciences has made big headlines, but a new study has found that the road may continue to be rocky once some of them get there.

Out of 557 professional female scientists, nearly half of the black and Latina participants surveyed—or 48 and 47 percent, respectively—report being misidentified as a member of the cleaning or administrative support staff at some point.

Asians experienced this issue far less at 23 percent and among whites it had happened to 32 percent of respondents.

The report that these findings were published in, which focuses on gender bias across broad ethnic groups, also found evidence of what it has termed a "tightrope."

More than three-fourths admitted to being forced to skirt the line "between being seen as too feminine to be competent—or too masculine to be likable."

Pressures to leave the workplace after having children and re-prove competence were also felt in differing levels by the women.